Two-way trade with APEC exceeds $100 billion

New Zealand’s two-way trade with APEC reached $102 billion for the year ended
September 2017, Stats NZ said earlier this week.

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum brings together 21 Pacific Rim
member economies, including Australia, China, and the United States – three of our
main trading partners.

"Asia-Pacific is the fastest-growing economic region in the world," international
statistics manager Tehseen Islam said. "Over the last decade, New Zealand's two-way
trade with APEC has grown $31 billion, and a $2.6 billion deficit is now a $4 billion
surplus."

APEC is the Asia-Pacific's main economic forum where a number of trade agreements
are reached. Talks are currently underway at APEC on the Comprehensive and
Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership. Eleven of the 21 APEC countries
are in the trade talks.

In the September 2017 year, New Zealand had a $4 billion surplus with APEC – we
exported $53 billion worth of goods and services to APEC, and imported $49 billion.
Most of our surplus with APEC countries is due to our $3 billion surplus with China.
This is mainly due to New Zealand's exports of dairy products to China, and spending
by visitors from China in New Zealand.

Dairy products our largest export to APEC nations - Dairy products are our
largest export to the combined APEC nations. New Zealand exported $9 billion worth
of milk powder, butter, and cheese to these countries in the September 2017 year, $2
billion short of the $11 billion high exported in the September 2014 year.

China is New Zealand’s largest export market for milk powder, butter, and cheese,
totalling 28 percent – nearly $4 billion in the September 2017 year. Our next-largest
export market for these products is Algeria, which makes up 5 percent. APEC
countries (China, Australia, and Malaysia) account for three of our top five dairy export
markets.

Vehicles lead the way in imports - New Zealand’s main imports from APEC
are vehicles, machinery, and equipment. New Zealand imports a large amount of cars
and trucks from Japan, Thailand, the US, and South Korea, all of which are APEC
nations.

New Zealand imported $2 billion worth of electrical machinery and equipment from
China in the September 2017 year, and nearly $4 billion worth of mechanical
machinery and equipment from China, the US, and Japan combined.

Travel spending contributes to trade surplus -Travel also contributes
significantly to our trade surplus with the APEC nations. Visitors and students from
APEC nations provided $9 billion to the New Zealand economy in the September 2017
year through exports of travel services, mainly by visitors from Australia, China, and the
US.

Spending by New Zealanders visiting APEC nations (imports of travel services) totalled
$4 billion in the September 2017 year, with personal travel accounting for $3 billion of
this. The majority of New Zealanders’ personal travel spending was in Australia,
followed by the US. Visitors from the US added $1 billion to the New Zealand economy
in the September 2017 year, while New Zealand visitors added $531 million to the US
economy.

Key facts

New Zealand's total trade balance was a surplus of $4.0 billion in the year ended
September 2017.

Total exports of goods and services were $73.5 billion, while total imports were
$69.5 billion.

The top export destinations were China ($13.8 billion) and Australia ($13.4 billion).
The European Union ($12.3 billion) and Australia ($11.7 billion) were our main
import sources.

Dairy products and logs to China were New Zealand's top two export
commodities by destination in the September 2017 year, earning $3.6 billion and
$2.2 billion, respectively – this was closely followed by spending by visitors from
Australia ($2.1 billion) and the European Union ($2.1 billion).

Vehicles, parts, and accessories from Japan ($2.3 billion) and the European Union
($2.3 billion); and mechanical machinery and equipment from the European Union
($2.0 billion), were our three largest import expenses.

Our two-way trade with APEC reached $102 billion in the year ended September
2017, up from $70.1 billion in the year ended September 2007. See Two-way trade
with APEC exceeds $100 billion for more information.